Chapter 121: Mia and Sofia

"Don’t act stupid with me!"

"I genuinely don’t know who you’re talking about."

Mia took another step closer, her patience rapidly disappearing. She had come here expecting to question Sofia about Jack, but the girl’s confused responses made it difficult to tell whether she was deliberately avoiding the subject or genuinely had no idea what Mia meant.

Either possibility annoyed her.

Jack had been absent for days, and Victor’s information had only raised more questions. If Sofia knew something about his disappearance, Mia wanted to hear it directly. She had no intention of allowing the girl to hide behind a harmless expression and a few carefully chosen words.

Mia grabbed Sofia by the collar again and pulled her closer until only a short distance separated their faces.

"Listen carefully. I’m not in the mood for games. You know exactly who I’m talking about, so stop wasting my time."

Sofia instinctively reached for Mia’s wrist, trying to loosen her grip.

"Please, you’re hurting me!"

Mia ignored the complaint.

Her gaze moved across Sofia’s face, searching for some sign of recognition or guilt. The younger girl’s expression remained troubled, and that only made Mia more suspicious.

"Where is Jack?" she demanded. "What happened to him?"

Sofia’s eyes widened slightly at the name.

"Jack?"

Mia noticed the reaction immediately.

"There! So you do know him!"

"Of course I know him. He’s a student here."

"Don’t twist my words! You know what I mean."

Sofia shook her head, trying to pull herself free.

"I don’t understand what you’re accusing me of. Jack and I have spoken before, but that doesn’t mean I know where he is now."

Mia’s grip tightened.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It’s the truth!"

"Then why have you been spending so much time hiding in here?"

Sofia stared at her in disbelief.

"Because I need some privacy sometimes! Is that a crime now?"

Mia’s eyes narrowed further.

"Don’t get smart with me."

"I’m not trying to be smart. I’m trying to understand why you’re attacking me!"

For a brief moment, the two girls remained locked in a tense stare. Mia’s face was only inches from Sofia’s, and the hostility in her eyes made the younger girl increasingly uneasy.

Sofia had heard about Mia’s reputation, but she had never imagined that she would become the target of such anger herself. She could not understand what had made the older girl decide that she was responsible for Jack’s absence.

All she knew was that the situation was becoming frighteningly unpredictable.

Mia suddenly released one hand from Sofia’s collar and pressed her right cheek firmly with her palm, forcing the girl’s face to turn slightly.

"Ouch!" Sofia cried, wincing as she tried to pull away.

Mia leaned closer.

"You’re quite the performer, aren’t you? First, you act as though you don’t know what I’m talking about, and then you pretend you’re the victim."

Sofia raised one hand to her cheek, her eyes beginning to water.

"I’m not pretending anything."

"Really? Then perhaps I should make things a little clearer for you."

Mia’s voice dropped into a threatening tone.

"Don’t make me lose my temper. I can make this much worse for you if I decide you’ve been wasting my time. That pretty, innocent expression of yours won’t protect you forever."

Sofia swallowed hard.

She had no idea what Mia intended to do next, but the threat was clear enough. Her heart pounded as she tried to keep herself from panicking. She wanted to push past Mia and escape the bathroom, yet the older girl stood directly between her and the door.

There was nowhere obvious to go without trying to force her way past.

Mia released her cheek, only to shove her backward again.

Sofia struck the tiled wall with another dull thud. The impact startled her, and she immediately brought a hand behind herself to steady her balance. Pain spread across the area where she had hit the wall, but her greater concern was the person standing in front of her.

Mia was still staring at her as though she expected a confession at any moment.

Sofia gritted her teeth, fighting back the tears that had gathered in her eyes. She was frightened, humiliated, and increasingly frustrated by the fact that Mia seemed unwilling to listen to anything she said.

Nevertheless, she refused to invent an answer merely to satisfy the older girl.

"I don’t know what you mean," Sofia repeated, her voice firmer despite the tremor in it.

Mia’s expression darkened.

"You expect me to believe that you know nothing about his disappearance?"

"I never said I knew nothing about him. I said I don’t know where he is!"

"Then tell me what you know!"

"What do you want me to tell you? That we spoke? That we spent some time together? Is that what this is about?"

Mia paused.

The admission was small, but it was the first clear piece of information Sofia had offered about her connection with Jack. Mia’s eyes narrowed as she tried to determine whether the girl was finally being honest or merely offering a partial truth to avoid further confrontation.

"You spent time with him?"

Sofia hesitated before nodding.

"Yes. We spoke, and we spent some time together. But that doesn’t mean I know why he’s absent from school."

Mia studied her carefully.

"When did you last see him?"

Sofia looked away for a moment, searching her memory.

"I don’t know exactly. It wasn’t yesterday, if that’s what you’re asking."

"Then when?"

"I can’t remember the exact day."

Mia let out an irritated breath.

"You can’t remember? Convenient."

Sofia looked back at her.

"I’m not keeping a record of every conversation I have with someone. Why would I do that?"

"Because he disappeared!"

"And how am I supposed to know where he went? I’m not responsible for his decisions!"

The words came out more sharply than Sofia intended. As soon as she spoke, she could see Mia’s expression change, the older girl’s irritation growing into something colder.

For a moment, Sofia regretted raising her voice. Yet she could not deny the truth of what she had said. Whatever had happened to Jack, she had not deliberately caused his absence, and she did not know where he was now.

Mia stepped closer again.

"Be careful how you speak to me."

Sofia’s fingers curled against the fabric of her clothing.

"Then stop treating me like I’ve done something wrong when you haven’t even explained what you think I’ve done."

Mia’s expression became unreadable.

She had come here expecting to find a girl who might have useful information about Jack. Instead, she had found someone who was frightened but still willing to challenge her. Sofia’s answers were frustratingly incomplete, yet they did not necessarily prove that she was lying.

That possibility irritated Mia more than she cared to admit.

She had expected this confrontation to be straightforward. She would question Sofia, discover what she knew, and determine whether the freshman was hiding anything important. Instead, the situation had become more complicated with every passing moment.

And the worst part was that she still had no idea where Jack was.

Mia loosened her grip slightly, though she did not step away.

"Listen to me, Sofia. I don’t care what sort of relationship you had with Jack, and I don’t care how you choose to spend your time. But if you know anything about why he’s missing, you had better tell me."

Sofia breathed unsteadily and rubbed her cheek.

"I’ve already told you what I know."

"Then why does it feel like you’re holding something back?"

"Because you won’t listen to me!"

Her voice echoed through the empty bathroom.

For the first time since the confrontation began, Sofia’s expression showed something other than confusion and fear. Frustration had joined the emotions in her eyes, and she looked directly at Mia despite the tears gathering along her lower lashes.

"I don’t know where Jack is. I don’t know why he hasn’t come back to school. And I don’t know why you’ve decided that hurting me will somehow make me give you an answer I don’t have."

Mia stared at her.

Sofia took a shaky breath and continued.

"If you want to know what happened to him, then ask someone who actually knows. But don’t expect me to tell you something I don’t know just because you’re angry."

The words hung between them.

Mia’s fingers twitched at her sides. She looked as though she wanted to respond immediately, but for a brief moment, no words came.

Outside the bathroom, the school continued with its ordinary routine. Teachers were delivering lessons, students were preparing for their tests, and the minutes were passing without regard for the confrontation unfolding behind the closed door.

Inside, however, the atmosphere remained tense.

Mia had come searching for answers about Jack’s disappearance, convinced that Sofia might provide the missing piece. Instead, she had found herself facing a girl who claimed to know little more than she did.

Whether Sofia was genuinely ignorant or hiding something remained uncertain.

But Mia was not ready to leave without finding out.

She narrowed her eyes and leaned forward slightly, her voice quiet enough to make the threat more unsettling than another shout.

"Then I suggest you think very carefully before you answer me again."

Sofia held her gaze, one hand still resting against her cheek.

"I’ve told you the truth."

Mia’s expression hardened.

"We’ll see about that."